The granting of the bestowal: The father archetype and the symbolic foundations of depression

Abstract

The myth of Tantalus as a primary reference for the granting conference. Granting of Bestowal (the act of conferring an honor or presenting a gift) as an attribute of the Father Archetype. Sufferings of the ward and severe impairments of the psyche resulting from the denial or loss of the bestowal. Psychic reactions, due to the loss of the grant, such as: shame, feeling of guilt. The shame of being incompetent. And the humiliation for being ridiculous. The symbolic foundations of the emergence of depression. Father-Narcissus, the one who does not bestow. Parents with rigidly defensive patriarchal structures. The conflicts of children of split couples in which one grants and the other denies it. The possibility of a resilient exit with the automobilization of the grant. Symbolic correlations between Tantalus’ punishments and the grandiosity of the bestowal.